Sundance Day 5

OK, we skipped Tuesday, Day 4. We had tickets to a movie called The Hawk is Dying, but both Julie and I just weren't in the mood and it had received some mediocre reviews. On to day 5....

Jim McQuaid came into town last night. Jim used to work with me at Ganymede Software and then NetIQ. While still in the computer business, Jim is a part time movie director, writer, editor, .... I got to help be a crew grunt on a recent short he did called The Longest Three Minutes. Jim has signed up for about 18 films over the next few days, starting with five today. Wow!

I went and saw a film with him this afternoon called Forgiven. It was filmed in Wilmington, NC. This morning's Salt Lake Tribune said it wasn't very good, so I went in a bit doubtful. It was actually very good and while not getting the full standing O, around 100 people stood and cheered at the end. Everyone around me thought it was very good.

Film two was called The Darwin Awards. As you might expect, it tells the tale of some of the people who are so stupid they perform acts that end up weeding them out of the gene pool. It had a very successful director and a pretty big cast. Just the same, I can only put 13 Tzameti (see day 2) below it on my list. Perhaps it gets 1 and a half stars.

One oddity was that Chris Penn, the brother of Sean Penn, was found dead today in his apartment in L.A.. He was one of the stars of The Darwin Awards. They made tonight's opening a tribute to him.

The rock band Metallica had a part in The Darwin Awards. As a result, after tonights premiere, they are playing at a little bar in Park City. Unfortunately, it is a private party for people involved with the movie. I am sure that if I were more important, I would have been invited. Jim was on the plane last night with a Metallica fan who had won an invite to the party. Pretty cool, except I don't care much for the band.

Perhaps our most "seen" Hollywood figure is Roger Ebert, although we never seem to have the camera when he is around. He was on the plane out with Bill and Kathleen and then I have seen him at four other movies. You would think I would get a picture.

No movies scheduled for Thursday. Just taking Jasper to get all his shots up to date.